“This is going to be the toughest of circles to square,” said Paul Johnson, the IFS’s director. “The decision over the spending review envelope will probably be the biggest non-Brexit related decision this Chancellor will make,” Johnson said. Just keeping spending constant on other public services after accounting for inflation — a limited definition of what ending austerity means — would require an additional 19 billion pounds, according to IFS’s analysis. Britain has lived under public spending cuts since 2010, when the then coalition government dominated by the Conservatives said its priority was bringing the budget under control. The IFS’s so-called Green Budget report was produced in association with Citi and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Source: National Post October 15, 2018 23:03 UTC